Trial reportPloS one2015
Placebo-induced somatic sensations: a multi-modal study of three different placebo interventions.
Trial report in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Long-term Efficacy and Safety of Sodium Oxybate in Treating Alcohol Use Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current neuropharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- From Paper to Digital Applications of the Pain Drawing: Systematic Review of Methodological Milestones.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2019Pooled it
- Individual differences in dopamine-related traits influence mood effects of dopamine D2-antagonist and antidepressant treatment expectations.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Trial
- The somatosensory temporal discrimination threshold changes after a placebo procedure.Experimental brain research · 2018Trial
- Attribution-Based Nocebo Effects. Perceived Effects of a Placebo Pill and a Sham Magnetic Field on Cognitive Performance and Somatic Symptoms.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2016Trial
- When somatic attention creates sensation: a new class of bodily experience.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Transient resting-state salience-limbic co-activation patterns in functional neurological disorders.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2024Article
- Functional neurological disorder and placebo and nocebo effects: shared mechanisms.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2022Review
- Quantification of Digital Body Maps for Pain: Development and Application of an Algorithm for Generating Pain Frequency Maps.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- The role of visual expectations in acupuncture analgesia: A quantitative electroencephalography study.Molecular pain · 2022Article
- Therapeutic Sensations: A New Unifying Concept.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Review
- Expectations of the Physiological Responses Can Change the Somatosensory Experience for Acupuncture Stimulation.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2019Article
- Differential Influence of Acupuncture Somatosensory and Cognitive/Affective Components on Functional Brain Connectivity and Pain Reduction During Low Back Pain State.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2019Article
- Phantom Acupuncture Induces Placebo Credibility and Vicarious Sensations: A Parallel fMRI Study of Low Back Pain Patients.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Brain activation during the expectations of sensory experience for cutaneous electrical stimulation.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2018Article
- Differential Classical Conditioning of the Nocebo Effect: Increasing Heat-Pain Perception without Verbal Suggestions.Frontiers in psychology · 2017Article
- Perception of Subtle Energy "Global advances in integrative medicine and healthReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Somatic sensations induced by placebos are a frequent phenomenon whose etiology and clinical relevance remains unknown. In this study, we have evaluated the quantitative, qualitative, spatial, and temporal characteristics of placebo-induced somatic sensations in response to three different placebo interventions: (1) placebo irritant solution, (2) placebo laser stimulation, and (3) imagined laser stimulation. The quality and intensity of evoked sensations were assessed using the McGill pain questionnaire and visual analogue scales (VAS), while subjects' sensation drawings processed by a geographic information system (GIS) were used to measure their spatial characteristics. We found that all three interventions are capable of producing robust sensations most frequently described as "tingling" and "warm" that can reach consider-able spatial extent (≤ 205 mm²) and intensity (≤ 80/100 VAS). Sensations from placebo stimulation were often referred to areas remote from the stimulation site and exhibit considerable similarity with referred pain. Interestingly, there was considerable similarity of qualitative features as well as spatial patterns across subjects and placebos. However, placebo laser stimulation elicited significantly stronger and more widespread sensations than placebo irritant solution. Finally, novelty seeking, a character trait assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory and associated with basal dopaminergic activity, was less pronounced in subjects susceptible to report placebo-induced sensations. Our study has shown that placebo-induced sensations are frequent and can reach considerable intensity and extent. As multiple somatosensory subsystems are involved despite the lack of peripheral stimulus, we propose a central etiology for this phenomenon.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.